Operation Gardening

Operation Gardening was a World War II campaign by the United Kingdom and the United States to mine the Danube River in Hungary and drop bombs and leaflets over the capital city of Budapest. Oil refineries and storage tanks were bombed by USAF and RAF, damaging the German war effort. The Allied planes also dropped propaganda leaflets over Budapest, threatening punishment for the deportation of 550,000 Jews to concentration camps. On 8 July 1944, Adolf Hitler stopped the deportations out of fear of a rebellion in Hungary, but Hitler would have the Hungarian dictator Miklos Horthy removed from power as Wehrmacht troops occupied Hungary.